Heidi Shierholz
Heidi Shierholz leads the Economic Policy Institutes’ Perkins Project on Worker Rights and Wages, a policy response team that tracks the Trump administration’s wage and employment policies. She also heads EPI’s efforts to advance a worker-centered policy agenda.
Articles by this author
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Views Friday, September 25, 2020 At Least 33 Million Workers Are Being Hurt by the Coronavirus Recession The most frequent question I’ve gotten in the last few months is “how many workers are being hurt by the coronavirus recession?” There is a huge amount of confusion about this because two major, completely separate, government datasets that address this question are reporting very different numbers... Read more |
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Views Thursday, September 03, 2020 Total Initial UI Claims Have Risen in Each of the Last Four Weeks Last week 1.6 million workers applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Breaking that down: 881,000 applied for regular state unemployment insurance, and 759,000 applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). This is the fourth week in a row that total initial claims have risen... Read more |
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Views Thursday, August 27, 2020 UI Claims Remain Historically High and the President’s Executive Memorandum Is Doing More Harm Than Good Last week 1.4 million workers applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Breaking that down: 822,000 applied for regular state unemployment insurance (not seasonally adjusted), and 608,000 applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). Some headlines this morning are saying there were 1... Read more |
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Views Thursday, July 23, 2020 Joblessness Remains at Historic Levels and There Is No Evidence UI Is Disincentivizing Work Last week 2.3 million workers applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. This is the 18th week in a row that unemployment claims have been more than twice the worst week of the Great Recession. Many headlines this morning are saying there were 1.4 million UI claims last week, but that’s not... Read more |
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Views Thursday, July 16, 2020 With Unemployment at Historic Heights, Congress Must Extend $600 Lifeline to Workers Last week, 2.4 million workers applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. This is the 17th week in a row that unemployment claims have been more than twice the worst week of the Great Recession. Of the 2.4 million workers who applied for UI, 1.5 million applied for regular state unemployment... Read more |
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Views Thursday, June 18, 2020 Over Three Months Into Pandemic and Job Losses Remain at Historic Levels Last week, 2.2 million workers applied for unemployment benefits. This is the 13th week in a row—a full three months—that initial unemployment claims are more than twice the worst week of the Great Recession. Of the 2.2 million who applied for unemployment benefits last week, 1.4 million applied... Read more |
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Views Thursday, June 11, 2020 It's Been Three Months Since Covid-19 Hit and the Economic Pain Continues Last week, 2.2 million workers applied for unemployment benefits. This is the twelfth week in a row that initial unemployment claims are have been more than twice the worst week of the Great Recession. Of the 2.2 million who applied for unemployment benefits last week, 1.5 million applied for... Read more |
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Views Thursday, May 21, 2020 Congress Must Do Much, Much, Much More to Help Tens of Millions Unemployed Last week, 3.3 million workers applied for unemployment benefits. That is an improvement over the 6 million per week we saw in late March/early April, but is an increase from the prior week—and is still well over three times the worst week of the Great Recession. Of the 3.3 million who applied for... Read more |
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Views Thursday, May 14, 2020 In Just Two Months, More Than 33 Million Americans Have Filed for Unemployment In the last eight weeks, more than 33 million people —more than one in five workers—have applied for unemployment insurance (UI) through regular state UI programs. That is more than five times the worst eight-week stretch of the Great Recession. Some good news is that regular state UI claims have... Read more |
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Views Thursday, May 07, 2020 Nearly One in Five Workers Applied for State Unemployment Insurance Benefits in the Last Seven Weeks A previously unimaginable number of workers have applied for state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits as a result of the coronavirus shock. In the last seven weeks alone, more than 30 million workers have applied for unemployment compensation. That is nearly one in five workers. And it is nearly... Read more |